The Way It Was
by Tsuzurao
Summary: SPOILERS FOR DEATHLY HALLOWS. TonksxLupin.


[[oh my god, I uploaded the wrong document. XDDD is too tired

Anyway, HERE is the RIGHT document.

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.**

"Where is he!? Where- Expelliarmus! Get out of my way!!"

Jets of green, red, blue, and white shot across the field as her eyes searched frantically for that one person. Her purple hair whipped her in the face as she leapt over bodies, avoided spells, backfired the charms, disarmed Death Eaters… how did the once peaceful Hogwarts turn into this? And because of Voldemort… bastard… She kept going, though. She had to find him. She had to. It was the only thing driving her forward, was her will to find him. Just once more. She needed to know he was alive… she had to know he was there with her still. Nymphadora sprinted quickly, hearing a familiar cry of pain that made her eyes shoot open in worry, and one word pried itself from her closed mouth -

"REMUS!"

From across the field, in duel with a Death Eater, his hand shot to his side which had a fresh gash upon it. His hair was tossing around in his face and his eyes were growing frantic at what he thought was the end of it all; people were screaming, crying in pain; he couldn't help them - he couldn't do anything. His eyes squeezed shut and he fired a silent spell at the Death Eater, whom went flying as if a bowling ball had been tossed into his stomach.

Then, a voice came to his ears, one he had been hoping to hear for the last few moments. Whirling around, he saw his purple-haired wife darting past Death Eater after Death Eater, just to reach him. "To-Tonks," he breathed quickly, rushing over and grabbing his wife by her arms and looking rather frightened, confused, and slightly angry with her. "Why are you here!? You're supposed to be home, safe, where no one can-" he fired a red stunning spell at a Death Eater sneaking up on Tonks; "-hurt you!"

"You honestly expect me to sit there," she herself whipped around and fired an Expelliarmus charm at an enemy, then fired a burst of water towards him; "leaving my husband and all my friends to fight til their last breath," another charm, "and not do anything? I think not!" Her and Remus' moves contradicted one another - he was pressed against her right, and she to his left, him facing one way and she facing the other, while they spun around, changing positions and firing at enemies.

Lupin growled faintly, turning to look at her while he had the chance. "You don't get it. One of us needs to live and take care of Ted! What'll happen if he finds out both his parents were killed in a battle against the ultimate evil? Do you think that he'll appreciate us throwing our lives away? I don't want him to become like Harry; to become alone!"

"He won't be alone!"

"Wh-what!? The last time I checked, not having two parents means your pretty much alone."

"That's not what I meant!"

The pair had started to shout over the screams of spells, the shouts of terror, the gasps, the whines, the shouting of companion's names - not at one another. And they had to break apart as a Death Eater ran at both of them with the tip of his wand ignited, lit with a fiery whip that lashed out and burned the grass around them. Having bolted to the right while his wife went left, they were separated, with a Death Eater in between. "Locomotor Mortis!" he cried out, his wand sending the attack to the enemy's legs, binding and locking them together as he struggled to get free. But Lupin had the upper-hand now. "Avada-"

"Expelliarmus!" the voice of a stranger sounded behind Lupin and the spell knocked the wand from the lycan's hand. Then came another shout of "Duro!" and a jet that came deathly close to hitting Remus, had Tonks not leapt up and shouted her own charm.

"Protego!" And with that, a shield guarded her husband from being turned into a stone monument.

"Wretched girl-!" the first Death Eater shouted, sending his own disarming charm to her wand - now both husband and wife were defenseless, circled by two vulture-like Death Eaters waiting for the right moment.

When one of them shouted, "Avada Kadavra!" to Tonks, the other screamed, "Crucio!" to Lupin. And at once, Lupin knew he had but a few moments to act before one of them would be dead.

Seeing his brown wand closeby, he ducked down and snatched it up then in a matter of seconds he had handed the wand to Tonks and shoved her out of harm's way, having just barely enough time to evade death and pain himself - and he backflipped, landing on one knee near Tonk's and. And with a nod to the woman, the two shouted to the Death Eaters in unison, "Expelliarmus! Avada Kadavra!"

And with that, the cloaked fields fell to the side, their screams forever mixed with the night.

Tonks walked over to Remus and, at first he thought she was going to embrace him; but instead he received a swift slap to the face.

"… what was that for?!" he cried after a few moments of shock. But after he yelled, he noticed her expression filled with frustration.

"First, you expect me to leave you all here alone. You think that our son will turn out like Harry, alone, if we die. Then you risk your life to save mine, without thinking, it would seem." And her voice, once calm, erupted when she yelled, "What's wrong with you!?" She was baring her teeth at him, then she said in a dangerously infuriated tone, "Listen to me for once."

And to him, all the screams seemed to fade, and there was no one but her there. "I'm… I'm listening."

"Good." Blindly, she cast the Protego shield on her and Remus, then started to talk. "Alone means there's no one there for you. You forget Harry is Ted's Godfather, and he still has his grandmother; my mother, if Harry is to die. And now, you don't see her on the battlefield at all, do you? No, you don't - still looking around, it was rhetorical! And what were you thinking about, saving me and risking your life?" Her tone turned into something mixed between hurt and confused, which made Remus' once confused expression drop to sympathetic. "I don't want to lose you. If we go down, I'd rather go down together." Then the Protego charm wore off, her hands lightly touching his forearms.

In her eyes were anxiety to get out of there alive; and he saw that. He sighed softly and closed his own eyes. "I'm sorry," he said softly, an arm moving to hold her. "I'm sorry," he repeated, then relinquished his hold, looking into her eyes. "We have a final fight to finish. Are you ready?"

Dora saw something in his eyes change; what was once confused changed, morphed into determination. She always loved those eyes of his, despite his 'true' nature. She loved everything about him. And she was happy he was there with her, at the end of everything. And with a firm nod, she reached down, giving his hand a squeeze of reassurance.

One last squeeze…

Then the pair turned to see two cloaked figures walking towards them.

The last Death Eaters…

Tonks smirked. Lupin frowned. Both exchanged wands, since Lupin had Tonks and vice versa. The pair started to walk, their wands at their sides until the noticed the Death Eater's raising theirs. And they mimicked the move.

Lupin felt his pulse jumping off the charts.

Tonks felt hers calming down.

And in unison, the two had shouted with one flick of their wrist, "Avada Kadavra!"

But unbeknownst to them, the Death Eater's said the same curse.

And after the four curses met and slammed into one another, Lupin understood. His eyes widened. He wanted to shove her aside. He wanted to protect her. He wanted to save her from death, moments before it. And still, his pulse rose above normality and sweat dripped down his thin face as the attacks glowed in the night, illuminating the small fighting area around them. Why had they not started to run? Did Tonks understand?

At that moment, a warm feeling came to his hand. Her hand slid through his, and she said only a few words, the last word she would speak; the most meaningful words he'd ever heard.

"I love you, Remus."

He squeezed her hand back. The squeeze was all she needed, all she needed to smile, one final time. And with that, her hand fell to the side. And after the jets of green momentarily froze, then shot back at them, having already hit and killed the Death Eaters, within those few moments with her, Lupin pushed the words from the back of his throat, his eyes closing as a warm air filled around him.

"I love you, Nymphadora."

And like that, the pair fell slowly to the ground after the green jet hit them both square in the chest.

Lupin hit the ground a millisecond before his wife, his head turned to the right, and hers to the left, facing one another. What had happened, before they died? The reassurance that they were there, together, was enough to make them realize it was their time. Their time to bid farewell.

And they had gone, together, as man and wife.

The way it was always supposed to be.

The way it was.

[[Yeah, my first HP Tonks/Lupin fanfic. Sorryif it sucks. It's superbly short, not to mention that it's midnight so that might have something to do with it. -w- Yep.


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